Catrinas or Calavera Catrinas, Elegant Skeletons, are seen around the Day of the Dead in Mexico. First drawn by José Guadalupe Posada in
1913, they were meant to
remind us that everyone dies; rich, poor, elegant or humble.
I have been admiring the typically Mexican rebozos. Rebozos
are multipurposed generous shawls used by women of all classes in Mexico; they
are used to cover up, flirt, carry babies or things or bury the dead. Many are warp-faced and woven on a
backstrap or 4H floor loom, but there are many manifestations of the rebozo; balanced weave, warp-faced, wool, cotton, silk, rayon, ikat, brocaded,embroidered.
Todays highly prized ones are warp ikat with long macrame fringes.
The Dare: start to warp and weave a rebozo inspired shawls on 3 October. Complete it by Halloween and we can all dance around in our new shawls on 1 November as an Catrina or Elegant Skeleton.
